Canadiens beat Flames, avoid losing streak

After a few disheartening loses earlier this week, the Montreal Canadiens got right back on track with a 6-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday night.

Forward Dale Weise played a crucial role in helping the Canadiens put an end to their two-game slide. Weise scored his first NHL hatrick, giving Montreal a huge boost in their win over the Flames. In addition to Weise’s goals, the Canadiens had goals by Nathan Beaulieu, Devante Smith-Pelly, and Paul Byron.

The Canadiens rookie goaltender Mike Cordon played an exceptional game, stopping 30 out of 32 shots.

“We needed a win tonight and we got a complete effort,” Weise said. “We had a lot of guys who chipped in, [Condon] was amazing. It feels good to get this one because we’ve played so poorly.”

Jiri Hurdler and Josh Jooris scored a goal each for Calgary, but it was not enough to snap Calgary’s four-game losing streak. The Flames have only won one of their last nine games.

“Right now, we’ve got to find our game, find some more confidence,” Flames defender Kris Russell said. “That was our strong suit last year. But it comes down to individual efforts. I’ve got to be better and don’t want to look past that. I’m on for way too many goals and not helping my team. I think a lot of us have to look in the mirror, especially myself.”

Weise opened up the scoring 5 minutes into the game with the Canadiens’ first goal. Only a few seconds into the second period, Hudler tied the game up for Calgary. Beaulieu scored on the powerplay a few minutes later, putting Montreal up by one again. Jooris tied the game up again with a goal a few minutes after that. Wiese put the Canadiens back in the lead, with what would become the game winning goal just two minutes after.

About half-way through the second Smith-Pelly scored, putting the Canadiens up by two. In the third, Byron got a short-handed goal to put the Canadiens up by three. Weise completed his hatrick with the game’s final goal midway through the third. The Flames just weren’t able to catch up.

“It’s a bit deflating right now, but when you’re in a slump like this, it’s when you need to bear down,” Russell said. “We were still well in that game, were getting chances, and if a few of them go in, it could have been a different story, but just saying that doesn’t matter. When we have chances, we’ve got to bury them.”

Montreal wrapped up their Western Canadian road trip and will play the Winnipeg Jets at Bell Centre on Sunday. Calgary hopes to fair better in the battle of Alberta, driving up to Edmonton to play the Oilers on Saturday.

About Jillian Gordon

Jillian is a writer from Edmonton, Canada. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Alberta and loves all sorts of cultural phenomena. In addition to writing, Jillian's hobbies include photography and playing roller derby.